It’s no secret that Hideaki Anno has been on a hiatus from working on the fourth and final movie of the Evangelion theatrical series and has been working on a new Godzilla movie. Likewise, there’s been a ton of Evangelion/Godzilla cross merchandizing. During a press conference to commemorate the completion of the new Godzilla movie, Anno’s opening remarks was an apology to Evangelion fans for keeping them waiting for the final movie.

“To start with, there is something I’d like to apologize for. To the fans of Evangelion, I am truly, truly, truly sorry for having kept you waiting.”

Additionally, he reiterates how draining it is to be working on Evangelion and mentions that after the 3rd movie, Evangelion 3.0: You can (not) Redo, that he felt that he’d never create anything again. In the past we’ve seen mentions of how soul draining it was for him to work on the Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series, and more recently (especially while waiting for the 4th and final movie) how emotionally draining it was for Anno to work on the new movies, so it wasn’t necessarily much of a surprise to hear him mention at the press conference that Evangelion is his soul.

“The only way for me to describe Evangelion is to say that it is my soul. I make it by scraping off pieces of myself, and I made three movies in a row like that, putting everything I could into them and not thinking about what would come next. After finishing [the third Rebuild movie], I thought I’d never create anything again.”

But fortunately, he was offered an opportunity to work on the new Godzilla Resurgence movie:

“At that time, I went into talks with Toho, and it saved me. I think this is how I’m able to keep making Evangelion. However, since it is a fact that I’m making everyone wait, I deeply apologize for that.”

Here’s to hoping that he’s recharged and ready to work on Evangelion again.